Brent Weedman knew he had a spot in Bellator’s next tournament. The problem is that he didn’t want it.

“I have turned my back at 155 (pounds) at this point,” Weedman told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “Just because you can make the weight doesn’t mean that you should make the weight.”

Weedman (20-8-1 MMA, 6-3 BFC) returns to the welterweight class tonight when he meets Marius Zaromskis (19-7 MMA, 3-1 BFC) at Bellator 86, which takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. The fight is part of the Spike TV-televised main-card that follows prelims on Spike.com.

After falling short to a bigger opponent in the Season 5 tournament’s opening round, the 28-year-old fighter found some measure of success against smaller opponents at 155 pounds. He bested J.J. Ambrose and Thiago Michel in the following season’s competition.

World-class trainers lent their services to make the weight drop more bearable. But after losing to Rick Hawn in the Season 6 finals, Weedman decided the strain wasn’t worth it.

However, he wasn’t sure whether Bellator had plans to use him in the next lightweight tournament. Previous season finalists are generally guaranteed a spot, but he didn’t want to interfere if the brackets had already been set.

“If they would have said they really need me at 155, I would have had to go back to the drawing board and do what needed to be done,” Weedman said.

But the promotion said he had a future in the company whether he fought at lightweight or welterweight, so the switch was easy.

The decision is already paying dividends to Weedman’s health. He cut just 2 1/2 pounds to make the 171-pound limit for the event’s weigh-ins.

He hadn’t touched a weight in seven years of professional fight training, but he now has a strength and conditioning coach, as well as a nutritionist, to ensure he’s not overpowered by bigger fighters in this season’s competition.

“Instead of cutting 30 pounds with them, I’m just going to be a stronger, more athletic, powerful athlete,” Weedman said.

It’s Weedman’s fourth attempt to take home $100,000 in guaranteed tournament winnings for surviving the eight-man field. It’s the second for Zaromskis.

Former DREAM champ Zaromskis is well-known for his flashy striking skills, but Weedman said he’s undergone another big change in the way he prepares for a fight.

“I’ve been spending six or seven years trying my damnedest to be a sport kickboxer,” he said. “I had to finally wake up and look at myself in the mirror and [say] that’s not who I am at my core. If you would have asked me on the street, ‘What’s your martial art,’ I would have told you Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It’s what I love.

“I’m coming into this fight not training like a kickboxer, but training like a mixed martial artist and bringing a more complete game plan.”

One thing that isn’t changing is the way Weedman fights.

“In a tournament like this, it’s win or go home,” he said. “You conserve yourself, and (if) you lose the fight, well, you just reserved your energy to sit around another eight months and hope that you make it into another tournament. I don’t believe in that kind of fighting.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.